Review: Purely Decadent "Chocolate Obsession" Lactose Free Frozen Dessert

Man, I gotta say... even with Lactaid, dairy is just not my best friend. Which is really unfortunate, since it's in so many things I love. Seriously, how could I go without cheese, or yogurt, or (duh) ice cream?! Thanks goodness this isn't a full-blown allergy, or I would be pulling my hair out! In any case, in order to scale back on my dairy intake a bit I decided to give Purely Decadent's Chocolate Obsession Lactose Free Frozen Dessert a try.

First things first: this name is somewhat misleading. I have had my eyes on Chapman's Lactose-Free line for a while now (only holding off because of the artificial sweeteners), and those products are actual ice cream with lactase enzyme added so that the dairy is digestible. So this is kind of what I was expecting from this Purely Decadent product. But nope. It's soy. It says soy NOWHERE on the front, and while it's true that it is lactose free, to me the labeling implies something different from what it delivers. Then again, my bad for not actually checking the ingredients list before I bought this.

Since we're talking ingredients, it is worth noting that a lot of the ingredients in this product are certified organic, so if that kind of thing is important to you, this might be worth checking out. The company describes this frozen dessert as "chocolate non-dairy frozen dessert with a thick ribbon of chocolate sauce, riddled with crispy chocolate flakes" - again with the avoiding of the word "soy"! Why, guys?! Just say it! Be proud! In any case, I'd have to say that this description is fairly accurate. Though the chocolate sauce kind of showed up in pockets rather than in a true ribbon, it did provide an extra burst of sweetness that set itself apart from the actual frozen dessert base. The chocolate flakes were definitely crispy. And I'm not sure I'm a huge fan of them. Because they were so brittle, as opposed to kind of melt-in-your-mouth, they broke up quite easily and made it feel almost like I was eating dirt at times. Again, this was the texture, not the taste, but it wasn't really the most pleasant experience. I suppose the colour didn't help with this association.

So what is my overall opinion on this product? It's OK. If I were a real chocoholic, I think I would scoff at Purely Decadent's name choice for this, as it doesn't scream "obsession" to me on any level. The "ice cream" base tastes like your typical chocolate soy product, which isn't bad, but it's not fabulous either. The sauce was a nice touch, but it too falls a bit flat. The flakes I could probably do without. This dessert was alright, but it didn't do anything new or progressive and I certainly wouldn't call it "decadent".

Recommend to a friend? This product is OK, but I feel like you could probably do better, especially for the price.
Repurchase? Nah